A Court of Talons and Night
by JSWanders
Summary: An extended fan-fiction from the events of A Court of Frost and Starlight onward, this story returns to the Court of Spring where salvation may still be had for its High Lord. A meddling of Court of Thorns characters and original characters, this story seeks to entertain a few twists of fate for the sake of 'what if!
1. Chapter 1-Night's Wishes

Such ruin had befallen the once golden rimmed grasses of the Spring Court. Had the years taken such a toll, had the Cursebreaker's leaving left such wake to this court's High Lord? While it was well known that the Summer Court was making means to protect borders from riots or uprisings, it was equally well known that the Spring Court in all its High Lord's glory had fallen into despair. Swift soul-shattering wreckage overgrown with decay was this land's namesake. For what this part of the world could gather, it was over the loss of the High Fae who was none other than the High Lady of the Night Court, Feyre Archeron. Love had ruined this High Lord, where it had lifted another, the rumours had all but spilled from each court to the next. No doubt, this burned that arrogance and pride of the once grand beast known as Tamlin. The once beautiful and marked chosen of the cruel Amarantha. Ultimately, it had stale mated his heart to ever believing in such a thing as love. Despite this, I knew it was not the only reason he had suffered, for so long and so great. It was this that willed my steps, further into those borders with such peaceful grace that I was like a doe. I of course was no fool to believe that such steps would ever not be heard by one such as Tamlin, a single blade leafing through his palace would no doubt be reached upon his hearing.

Yet it was a risk I was willing to take, one that I had to endure and no longer could ignore despite how much it pained me. And those same pains ran rampant through my very veins the further into the dilapidated manor I stepped. Silence save for my steps was the blanket of comfort that perhaps this confrontation would not take place. I had not wanted to do so, not for these many centuries that which had tied me to this fate. The worst of it, was knowing just how long that I had been a part of this particular cruelty. It had not been by my design, the cosmos' own method of such twines of fate were hardly something even someone as myself could dare muster to aid. It would be highly unfair of me to state, though, in that same regard that my own abilities were not mastered to finite precision over the years, as they had to be.

Each step inward was more horrifying than the last, cobwebs and rats lined the broken carcasses of furniture and ornate halls. For the most part the entirety of the manor was quiet, but I felt that pull of my being inward, knew that I was not truly alone no matter how I would have preferred it. I would remain resolute, the time had come to save him, the High Lord, who never deserved it.

Turning a corner into one of the remaining untouched rooms, the stench filled my nostrils of rotted meat, of foul hygiene and worst, blood. Blood was a scent I unfortunately was all too keen to smell, yet I still peered into the crack of the door where a bounce of fae-light had bounded. Until the shadow appeared in front of the crack as silent as I had stepped, those crystalline green eyes peering at me almost demonic in his height. I did not gulp, never-mind that was my first initial instinct, instead I shifted to stand a poise until those eyes realized I was no threat to his fallen court.

Tamlin, the great Spring Court High Lord, merely shifted from the door, not pushing to allow further entrance or acknowledging me at all until he had returned to his frayed seat. So I entered in, taking in the disarray, that few weeks worth of clothing that this High Lord lived in lazily slung about the floor of the room. Bones were pushed to the corners, old meat lay on the table, dishes unclean and wine spilled and dried to the floors. It was all I could do to not show pity upon him, he who had made so many ..choices. The soft bangle at my wrist was shifting with its gentle music, the gentle sway of my robes shifted enough noise to rouse a theater as the breeze crept in the broken windows of the room. My eyes would finally befall him, tattered and torn clothing that looked as if he had shredded it halfway off revealing a more malnourished chest than I had ever seen of him. Even the gold of his locks seemed faded in such sadness. What was worse amidst those still high lordly features was the darkness of those green eyes, fitted for nothing but defeat.

"Have you come to gloat as well?" Tamlin roughly stated, his voice sounded as if water had not touched his lips in a week, and upon a closer glance to see his lips chapping seemed to provide such as proof.

"If I have come, do you truly think it is what drove me to such lengths?" I said coolly.

"Many have come to see the fall of the High Lord of the Spring Court...to see him wallow ...to mourn his bride to be.." Tamlin croaked, waving a hand nonchalantly as if he still held some manner of charm about him.

"The High Lady of the Night Court has been married for some time...to her mate." I cross my hands to my front where they would rest between my hips, idly holding each other as if to wait on the High Lord's wrath to come. It did not.

Tamlin sat quiet a moment, observing a moment the particular garb I wore, the soft blue and white attire mingled with silver jewelry, the bland brown strands that draped from my scalp to my mid back. My eyes themselves a softer hue of brown that seemed to mimic my hair. Then he leaned forward, squinting his eyes deeper and appearing to almost smile. A hoarse gruff escaped him then, "It really is you...you must have really come to gloat...spare me the indecency of your glamour...it is the least you can do." His casualness to his tone was all but aired into the snobbish demeanor of his nose tilting upward slightly.

"It is not the least, the least would be never showing up. As so many of your once friends have deemed a better option. As your potential allegiances threaten to absorb your court into their own for better 'hands'. The least would be letting you rot over what love you felt for a High Lady, for the rest of your days, with the world believing it was dutifully deserved, Tamlin." I blink as my voice echoes out in its steady and unwavering demeanor. Just to twist my lips up into a pursed frown as his retort begins with a rough snarl to my words.

"Get out." Was all he could muster half choked.

"I have hit a nerve, somewhere in all those truths, so you would rather just sit and die in this cell of your own making...much like the very reason that Feyre Archeron left you for by way of rumour...the irony is that you see the suffering now yourself." There is a cutting resolve in my words, one I do feel slight regret in having to use against the High Lord.

Tamlin lowers his head, unlike his typical reaction that I would know him for in rage, instead he merely fades his hues to the half cooked meat before him. "What do you know of it." he would muster in his lowest tone.

"I've watched all of it Tamlin, and my guilt drives me to know that you are truly better than this, that you are not ..as many would call you..a villain. You were selfish, obscenely so, but I know why...of all people.. **I** know why." I feel the choke in my own throat now, and do my best to hold back a swell of tears in my left eye.

"Then remove your glamour, it sickens me to see you like a Child of the Blessed.." Tamlin turns his gaze from his front where no doubt he could still glimmer at my details before looking out his broken window.

I merely sigh, removing my glamour of paled perfection saddened that it was so seen through by him, humanized yet still very fae of heart. I had perfected it for so many years, my own silent way of helping him, yet he'd never cared to know it. Though the last five decades had not given him much room for such thoughts. The long black and blue strands drape over my dark gray leathers. I feel the shade of my eyes turn to starlight, rather somehow manage to see such as a small glimmer of reflection could be born where my sleeve had wiped caked dust from the table before me. His eyes for a moment flicker toward me with a wince of pain before he returns to his seemingly far more important stare. I slouch now, leaning into the table, "I wish all those years ago..."

He interrupted, now with that bit of fire still burning to his emerald hues as they faced me with malice, "I spare your life because your beauty coiled its image upon my mind forever...and it was the right thing to do. And no matter what my heart feels for Feyre, no matter what my heart feels for my court, I will never stop feeling connected to you...even as you've denied me for so long such simple truths...tell me Enchantress," he'd leaned forward enough to stumble to stand, coiling his weight on the table to gradually approach me again, "How much more must I prove? Was sparing you not enough? Was being loyal despite how easy it would have been for me to just let Amarantha take my pride ..not enough? Was being cursed for fifty years with the ridiculous demands of such a curse-not enough? Was all of my long years of suffering -not enough? I grow tired of these dreams so easily shattered.." His face was before mine, canines born and prepared to lunge into my throat at a near moment, his breath cascading over my face. His chest heaved in that primal sense, activating his more feral of natures.

It was hard to not show my repulse at his breath, hard to not crumble before the might of a High Lord, broken as he may still be. I shifted my shoulders up, "We have both been deceivers, Tamlin. For the sake of thinking we're meaning well, when truly we were being selfish. I know what sacrifices you have made, have you thought of what ones I have? Judging that you find that merely beauty was enough to stay your hand over what is right, I seem to feel you still don't fully grasp such a thing. How many will you push away and leave you to such an abyss as yourself before its too late?"

"You don't have a right to talk to me in such a way. Not with the lies...the lies you have done. You are no better than Feyre. Lying...deceiving..." Tamlin started, half choked again.

"Yet you did the same thing, don't pretend you wouldn't have continued to back Hybern if you had not felt some inkling to save yourself when the battle took a bit of a better hand. You knew the weaknesses of Hybern...just as I did." I was staring forced at him, no fear behind my starlit eyes.

"I have no one! Everyone has left me! Look at what it has done for me! Stop your gloating...just leave...forgiveness is something forsaken here!" Tamlin turned now, leaving his back half lurched as he used the table to carry his drunken self back to his seat before I caught his arm.

"You have yourself. And I am here...and we are going to start by cleaning up this wreck of a house of yours. Do yourself a favor and take a bath..." I stood completely squared to him now, releasing his arm as I was turning to begin my leave.

"You're..you're going to stay?" He half choked as well now, turning and grasping my own arm in return. "Why?" His final gaze questioning my motivations.

"It's the right thing to do Tamlin, to not let you suffocate yourself completely." I made to release my arm.

"So...this is the best you can say after all this time..I can suffocate if I want..just leave..." Tamlin released my arm from his grip and made to make back to his chair before I rounded in front of him with a staggering brace against his heaving form. The room around us seemed to darken with the High Lord's shift.

"You need to love yourself before you could ever love anyone else. And before anyone could truly love you too, Tamlin. I'm going to help you start with yourself and your house, after you've bathed the week's worth of grime off, you're going to help me clean up your mess. And we will take it a day at a time."

"It will take us an eternity with just the two of us...I have...behaved poorly." Tamlin sunk again now, his head heaving closer to his chest.

"For now it is the two of us, I don't feel you'll be forgotten for long. Show your people you know your mistakes, own them, repair what you can of them, and I can guarantee you won't be alone. This court can still have life in it Tamlin, but you have to breathe it in yourself first. Now, go take a bath, I'm starting in the foyer. Meet me there."

"Ia.." he began, before I stifled his lips, "Please refer to me as Elleste for now." He only nodded with a sigh, shifting to make his leave and I rounded to where I had entered. For the time we went our separate ways.


	2. Chapter 2- Spring's Retreat

I heard the shifting of objects in the direction of the foyer as I continued on my walk. Some scraping, some kicking and even a bit of a few curse words as another loud thump erupted and echoed into the hall I now traversed. There was nothing sacred any more, at least not within these walls, I had shredded everything. Anything to remove the pain or to subside it and to kill it if I must. Kill off the caring, that was what I'd hoped it would accomplish. Rage, boil it over and let it expel itself, yet I had done so in all the wrong ways. Granted, was it truly fair for Feyre to have done all she did here? All of the ripping and tearing of my court, turning my men against me? Turning Lucien against me, though, I know most of it was in regards to that sister of hers...another viper waiting to ruin another fae male. All of this just boiled over to Rhysand...that ridiculous Illyrian asshole...that womanizing scum. It was enough to warm Amarantha's bed for fifty years, no, he had to deprive me from everything for our past. I felt my chest heave all the more at the thought of him, the thought of him taking Feyre every night he wanted. Touching her, cradling her...claiming her. She was mine first, and losing her...it wasn't an option. It was never an option. But...what could I do...was it not enough that she had denied me...and then Feyre...perhaps I was just the monster they all speak of, the beast without a heart. Truly was there any other way to be?

At least, Amarantha seemed to think so. Otherwise she wouldn't have made mine solid, and thank the Cauldron Feyre had realized that, otherwise there would still be a curse and the woman I love, dead...and despite how often I am angered that she would dare leave me...her death! That snap of her neck, why had I not done more? Why was I so ...afraid? I had begged...pleaded...such a distasteful sight for a High Lord. The image still played in my mind, and despite it all, I had caged her...like she was the beast. I'd watched it all, moment by moment, but I ignored it because it was so much easier to pass over it. It was more consoling to myself to enjoy those fake smiles and to think that it was her still loving me. No, it was shooting the buck without ending his breath, letting him suffer the wound of the arrowhead...until finally the abyss would caress him.

But it was sickening, to know that she was his mate...that I was not enough. It made my stomach turn to consider everything I had done for her and her family; it was just wasting my time and resources. There were so many times that Ianthe had offered herself, that I had been tempted to release the yearning I had while Feyre was moping about the grounds. I still have thoughts that I should have taken advantage of her then. I still do not know of her fate, where Ianthe had fled to with Hybern's defeat, if she had survived at all. Maybe she would end up on my doorstep, at the very least I could loosen some of my tension.

I let out a low growl, tripping over one of the fallen arm rests to a chair marking the halfway point to my own rooms in the court. The hall itself looked like an army had just blown through, and in the process ensured that they layered caking of dust and webs as a trail behind them. Why bother cleaning though? No one but me was here, and why present it to anyone? No one would come now. Not now that I am the beast, the raging wolf who managed to not only break the Cursebreaker's heart but betray Prythian! The warnings of those commoners leaving the grounds still reverberated into my ears. So much so that I had barely noticed stepping over fallen desks and rubble of the wall itself, that I had managed to stumble my way into my old bathroom at all was marvelous to even me. Sheer curtains were ripped at the windows, the bath itself looked as if blood merely stained it now. Why bother to clean up the dirt on it too. Agony could be held in the reaches of the manor as well as my heart for the rest of my days. Agony and Rage. Regardless, she had come here...I still didn't trust why she had, especially one so deceiving...but at the same time she'd have more to lose by just lounging to gloat over me. In the end, nothing really mattered anyway, right? So she wanted to clean the house, have at it, it can rot when she does leave like the rest of them. Like they all had.

I feel the water a moment as it hits the surface of the large tub, cold, cold...and more cold. I couldn't bring myself to even summon warm water at this point, so I went ahead and jumped in. Freezing my genitals in the process, but I dared to say there wouldn't be a day that they would feel the warmth of passion again anyway. So I waited, scrubbed a few places here and there. I then dipped my head to rinse the grime and oil at my scalp, used the dust covered soap for a few layers of bubbles before I rinsed and grabbed a dusty old towel. I wasn't sure it was even clean, before I dried myself off again, found my least shredded shirt and pants and began my walk back into the foyer.

I'm not sure why I was even going to allow this, to not just close myself off and let her clean if she was so intent on it! 'Elleste' was only here to make me more miserable ...knowing I'd lost Feyre...fate's cruelty was enough. Maybe I should take a talon and just end it...at this point the Spring Court was just a faded memory...I could become one as well.

 _~I will not tolerate these thoughts, Tamlin. I am here because you need someone to show you that you are better than this... Meet me in the foyer.~_

I growled loud enough for the echo to ripple through the hall right up to the foyer. It had been some time, but I remembered imagining thorny walls and blockades. I felt those tendrils retreat, and I knew that from this moment on whatever sorrow drenched peace I thought I had was ruined while she was here.


	3. Chapter 3-Not My Guest

The roar had little to no effect in comparison to my own grunting and growling. Tamlin had absolutely destroyed the foyer. Curtains were lined with streaks of talon marks, dust and cobwebs practically cushioned their cloth, and to top it all random dead rats and spiders were piled everywhere. It was as if he had smashed something in a fit of rage and left the corpse to remain. Pieces of furniture were strewn about in several directions, decorations were toppled or shattered, and vines were beginning to overrun the windows' natural light. I hear his steps echo from behind and without thinking, I immediately turn holding a rat by its tail. Its body was stiff and the smell was horrid, and in a swift motion I threw it straight at Tamlin's head with all my force.

"This is ridiculous. How can you live in this?" I had already returned to the pile of broken furniture I was collapsing into one section of the foyer. Truth be told his reaction to my sparing his mindful thoughts had already boiled my own blood in veins.

Tamlin grunts from behind me, his voice growling outward through gritted teeth, "I've not had the need for guests, "Elleste"...so I've just taken out the pests and left them as reminders to any visitors.."

"That sounds like an excellent way, " I heave another chunk of wood over to the pile with a bit of a panted breath to follow, "to keep people away, Tamlin. Can you help me with moving this beam you so eloquently decided needed to be on the floor instead of supporting the roof?" I can see my expression does not aid to my cause by his own fiery glare.

Tamlin then outwardly laughed, sliding his step over to view my already strained face. I am suddenly aware with the heat to my cheeks and the hair frayed out of my tying how I must look. But it is soon forgotten as Tamlin's cold gaze meets my own hues. He eyes me up and down, and then I note his sights drifting to the beam and the small piles I had already attempted on my own. He tauntingly steps between each pile, bending halfway to observe all I had done in his short time of bathing. I feel my rested sight upon him leading to anger, my arms crossing up at my chest just as immediately as he let a 'hmm' escape him.

"I think you have this under control. I didn't agree to aid you after all...and it looks as if you do not need my supervision..." Tamlin let his snide High Fae voice echo out into the room.

I feel my heart pounding in my chest cavity, the rise and fall of my shoulders meant to aid breath for calming. "How lovely of you to feel so, I suppose I should feel so honored to have a High Lord's approval.." The words were volatile, far from the calm words I had offered shortly before. The rage steeping over the mere concept that he was as content to let himself be the sad state I had found him in. The upset billowing from each broken shard of his life that had merely been this foyer!

My rage was mistaken, and not ignored in the same, as Tamlin was upon me faster than even I could think to winnow. The power radiating from him still resonating from every ounce of his physique. His hand grasped my tiny throat and had me slammed against the vine covered window. I feel the crack of its glass from the impact of my back to its disrepair. My eyes blink shut just enough to return to the fury held in those emerald eyes. That snarl at his lips, curving slightly to that beast he truly was, and the talons at his tips pressing to streak a thin line of my blood down his hand and wrist. Despite this, despite the fear especially that this Fae could truly destroy even me, I stood my ground. My tips of my toes still reaching for the floor as my eyes met his own without showing him a shimmer of that terror I had within. "You dare mock me...do you forget who I am..." His words reverberated into my very core, leaving me that much more without breath.

"I mock what you have let yourself become...I mock that you show passion only when offended..." The words were hard to speak, but his grip loosened, my feet left to flatten to the floor as he retreated from me.

"Don't flatter yourself with speaking here. Do what you came to do, and when you're done, leave. I'll not tolerate your games." Tamlin spoke half turned already as he stormed off from the foyer. Halfway down the hall I heard the crunch and bend of wood to a talon swipe, my eyes returned again to the beam for the moment before letting a sigh escape.

It wasn't long after I heard the echo of a slamming door, one of which that did not sound to have still been sturdy in its bracings. I found myself lingering now and letting the stillness begin its hold over the estate once more. Just as it had held such reverence earlier, as if a single soul never lived or breathed life in such a place, I eased to a windowsill and stared through the crack of vines. Daylight would filter through in a few hours more, and I knew that I would have to find a place to rest then. There were a few places of course that I knew I could protect myself, but it was still no mystery that there were indeed creatures that prowled between the Spring Court's forests that were nothing to take lightly. I audibly sigh, hearing its resound bounce back at me in a few moments time.

Finding more will to my goal, even though Tamlin had sought fit to abandon such efforts, I would not. Thus my stride began from the window over to the next portion of piles I had made. Hours would roll by, and more piles grew into their respective objects. One pile was nothing but splintered pieces of wood from furniture, while another housed its cushioned materials. There was one of course for the vermin, another for ceramics, and a final one for the bonfire. There was still plenty of course to do in the foyer, but light was beginning its spiral into sunset. I needed more time, though I had hoped to complete at least one area the first day. It would have been simple had I not been the only one. Yet something in my heart told me that it still needed to be done, regardless if Tamlin was so eager to aid at first. He may yet need saving, but he had to feel that I was truly there to help him before he'd take that initial step. This was more evident by the message I'd barred upon the High Lord's mind as I strode out the front door into the courtyard.

 _~"Light is beginning to dim, I will be back at dawn, I trust you won't mind my finding a place to rest on the grounds of the Court itself."~_

I had never heard a reply to his mind, almost as if he had heard and merely chose to ignore me. I also sought no need to press such things. So as I strolled around from the main estate grounds, observing the levels of suffering my hands and back were to see to in the days to come, I also kept an eye for a place I could feel for better or worse, safe. The place had already led me to it before I had truly thought of it, or at least given focus to, and I had walked north to where a tall dome like building was likened unto a temple. Vines over ran it as well, the exterior looking to have aged considerably since the last I saw of this place. I feel my feet pause to the same step as my breath catches. After all this time this still stood, lasting longer than the company of Hybern and Tamlin's own destruction.

It had been centuries now, long years that this had been created and after all the recent histories, I had assumed it would have been crumbled or destroyed. I had first seen this temple of sorts when I had first met Tamlin. The thought crossed my mind to enter it, after all it was a well preserved location, and unless anything was within the temple itself, relatively safe. Though something pounded in my skull, a warning perhaps even, and I chose to walk further on until I found a small clearing of woods. This had actually been a set garden, one filled with benches and a small fountain. Following the wooded road from here would lead into a nearby town where his subjects had once lived. But it was relatively quiet, and I sensed nothing had prowled here in ages. Scooting myself up along one of the dry-leaf covered benches I nestled up to take a rest. My eyes shutting off the world around me and absorbing the sounds of the forest at night as the blanket of stars stretched overhead.


	4. Chapter 4-The Stranger and the Maid

There were days in years past that had I awoke in the Spring Court's grassy lands the first thing heard would have been the chirping of birds and light ruffles of deer between the wooded areas. This was not the case when my eyes shuttered to the world around me. It was an odd feeling, a strange sensation of eerie silence mixed with ruin. There was of course a part of me that was disheartened, as I had hoped my work in the foyer would have brought some recourse and vitalization to the court even in a mere day. It was only proof that I would indeed have my work before me, especially if I were to help Tamlin. As I let my body ease up from the stone bench, the strain of my neck from such discomfort lessened with a stretch, and I set off for the manor. I continued past that stone temple from yesterday's journey just as more light of the morning billowed over the trees and hills to reveal the large front doors of the mansion itself. I had no welcoming party, of course, but I still trudged inward without a knock.

It was still as calm as it had been, leveled in its disarray, save for the manor's open where it was apparent I had been and no one else since I had slept. I heard no movement in the long halls, nor heard anything shift about the staircases, nor saw anything other than a breezed flicker of a torn tapestry in the corner of my sight. With a heavy sigh, I began. At least after a long rest, I held less rage. While it was infuriating to see the High Lord destroy much so easily it was no surprise, perhaps it was merely a reminder of past High Lords that truly had my rage boiled with Tamlin. I knew he was better than all of this. Deep within me, there was still chord of a minstrel who was kind and loving. He had just buried it with anger and jealousy so deeply that it was going to take an orchestra to erase the painful ballads of his heart.

I let the thoughts die, instead finding a hum of a song my mother once sang and I simply continued with clearing each pile. Before long the words spilled from my own mouth, and I felt my heart swirl within its cage. It was an old song, passed down I had been told, nevertheless honest to its core.

 _In the mountains tall and wide,_

 _there was a maid who dare did fly,_

 _and whilst she had no wings,_

 _though a pretty thing,_

 _there never was a bird by her side_.

 _Day by day did the maid pray,_

 _for her soul longed to be free,_

 _and day by day silence roared,_

 _while the maid never soared,_

 _until it seemed no other way._

 _Though it brought the maid to weeping,_

 _there was still hope in her heart,_

 _to when in the darkest of night,_

 _the maid did try to take flight,_

 _thought it was only her sleeping._

 _Nevertheless the maid still did try,_

 _every night instead of during light,_

 _and when a stranger did appear,_

 _at first the maid was in fear,_

 _for he told her to look up into the sky._

 _Upon her glance was she taken to chance,_

 _for her hopes were all but strung,_

 _and the stranger bade she still see,_

 _for he could fly and said so could she,_

 _if she only thought of it as a dance._

 _So the maid did give to her hope,_

 _letting it be the final of breath if it were,_

 _and with a trying jump,_

 _and the stranger's bump,_

 _her faith left dangling on a tightrope._

 _When sure enough did wings appear,_

 _and the maid was taken in surprise,_

 _she almost flew into mountain side,_

 _but the stranger was still a guide,_

 _and with him was she able to steer._

 _She flew all the night long,_

 _until her wings did cry out for break,_

 _and it was not until dawn crept,_

 _that the maid let herself be set,_

 _and she was taken to this song._

 _To the stranger she cried and sang,_

 _how thankful she truly was,_

 _for he had taken her from her woes,_

 _and so much as she could show,_

 _her praises upon him surely rang._

 _The stranger merely shook his head,_

 _his smile deviously cruel,_

 _he said for all he did for her,_

 _surely it was now her turn,_

 _and a cackle and sigh did he wed._

 _"For your wings, I bid you to me, live,_

 _and any after you in the same,_

 _for it was a price I have bought,_

 _for the freedom that you sought,_

 _and one that no one else would dare give."_

 _The maid looked on in fear,_

 _but nod she did and bowed her head,_

 _"For your gift, we shall ever be,_

 _in your debt and will always believe,_

 _in the power that you hold here."_

 _For the maid did fly for ever on,_

 _and those like her did the same,_

 _and long days have passed under the sun,_

 _while the waters in the rivers still run,_

 _and to the stranger they are the pawn._

Whether it was cleaning, burning, or simply restructuring, I had it done within a few hours. It was always amazing to me how less frantic the mind became with a song in heart, and how it was that much easier to focus on the task at hand. Yet as it neared mid-day, I felt the rumblings of hunger beginning to set in. As there were no sounds or movements from Tamlin's manor, I assumed he was still asleep. I hardly doubted he would have made any special preparations for me, especially given his comment yesterday, so I finished clearing the space and then grabbed my sword propped at a nearby window.

I took one look at the room, where the floor now held no litter but a large beam still and then smiled. I exited the manor at first looking to the left and then the right, my ears not betraying a single hint as to food rustling nearby. So I stepped onward, walking past the gate and into the rolling fields. Before an hour past, I was in the woods and my sights set on a rabbit huddled near a base of a tree. I always despised having to kill other creatures, especially animals which I deemed practically innocent save for nature. Yet, another growl from my belly had its ears pinned toward me and I had no other choice. The land itself offered no ripe fruits or vegetables, and with a soft prayer to the Cauldron I had beheaded the rabbit in a perfect pin of blade to its head against the tree behind it.

As I cleaned and skinned the rabbit, placing its pelt in a satchel I had at my side, I gathered some twigs and branches and began my fire for cooking it. Before long the smell was irresistible, and after I knew it was cooked through, I tore off some of the meat and began chewing while kicking dirt over the fire itself. I dismantled the rest of it shortly after, even in mid-day I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. So I tucked the rest of the rabbit in a small secondary bag at my opposite side and began the trek back to the manor. I stopped only along a stream to fill a flask of water. Another hour had passed, and I knew that time was limited to reach the goal of at least finishing out the foyer itself today.

As I entered again though, I felt a hushed sensation of eyes. Yet as I looked I saw no one and heard nothing. I kept my wits for the most part, easing myself back to the windowsill where I shifted my weight to lean and pulled out my remaining rabbit meat. I probably wouldn't eat again until tomorrow, and knew myself well enough to know that once I started again I would work until night was almost upon me. So I chewed it down bit by bit, then sipped at my water, and continued until the rabbit was devoured. I threw the bones out into the fire I'd doused before hunting and stepped back in to the manor. Only to find a pair of green eyes boring into mine.

"Glad to see you are awake. I trust you slept well, High Lord.." I was short with him, slipping past in again and trudging around until I found a rag and a broom. Tamlin only would follow me out of slight intrigue.

"I thought you were gone. The fire pit you've made on my doorstep is atrocious." He spat the words with venom as he watched me begin with wiping down mantles and tables with the rag. I noted a tiny arc to his brows as if he were surprised.

He neared too close as I dusted one table, and the wafted dust blasted Tamlin's nose forcing him to step back. "It will be gone when the manor is restored to how it should have been kept." I neatly said, returning to a light hum. I still felt his gaze on me, despite the awkward end of speech between us for the moment.

Finally he let out a 'hmph' and started for the door. "You smell like dead rabbit. If that's the best you can hunt..." He was looking to see if I would glance his way, and in my own level of stubborn pride I refused. Forcing him to retract his original thought for something more striking. "Well, Elleste, " the name stung on his tongue toward me, "I'll leave you to the duty fitting of your station."

I waited until he had exited and was well down the steps before looking after him. I felt my eyes scowl, but instead simply inhaled and ignored it. There was reason of course for so much animosity from him. I wasn't making things easy for him, and I hadn't ever really I supposed. I found the tune of where I'd left off before his interruption and continued bit by bit. I managed to have dusted every fixture and swept the foyer just in time for dusk. As Tamlin had not returned, I assumed he was still on the prowl or on a hunt. While a part of me did carry some level of concern, I also knew night was close so I made my way on to the garden I had slept in before. Checking my surroundings I nestled on the bench and let my eyes begin by taking in the stretch of night sky easing over the sunset's end.


	5. Chapter 5-The Fox

The words were meant to make a mark, to embed into her heart like a knife and shred it as she had done to me. Just as Feyre had done what I deemed still too near in time passed. Some level of justice had to be served, and to the one nearest to receive it. I exhaled with a blow that would prefer to bend a tree. It was the simple start of her own words, snarling it in my face that I had chosen to sleep for most of the day rather than come help her on her pitiful crusade. The truth was though, that I did not know 'Elleste's' motives any more than anyone else who came to see the one known now as 'the fallen High Lord'. And I definitely was not going to trust her so willingly. Especially with how easily Feyre had ripped my court apart, how she had turned even Lucien to hate and despise me. It was easy for all of them despite my kindnesses, to only look at the reflection of the beast. They saw that horrific form and thought it was all I was capable. As if the truth of these long centuries had not practically torn me in halves. They were all playing wicked games, foolish desires thrown to a wildfire.

I rounded the forest, drawn to where I know she had been not long before, each step until I found where she had first cooked that lonely rabbit. There was a part of me that regretted having not risen sooner. There was indeed a sample of guilt in having to have her provide for herself while in my lands. As a High Lord it was duty and honor to aid those within the lands of which one ruled. It had not been so long ago that I had so freely given food to Feyre, gifted her with room and board and pleasantries to her heart's content. Even had I gifted her with paint, and a room by which to paint in. Yet for Elleste I would not be so kind. There were no curses to break, no threat of invasions save for loss of my own lands to other High Lords...nothing that I could find myself remotely caring for at all to bring myself to aid her. It was never supposed to be the burden I bore, it was to be my brother's fine mess of a place. All of this was the course of her own rage with me I knew, she had known me at my fullest. She knew me when I was a true warrior, before holding High Lordship, before Hybern's military dared to enter Prythian, and most importantly before the name Feyre Archeron brought me to my knees. She had seen the glory in the Spring Court and its power, and she knew that this was but a remnant of my being. I think that was what truly had me grounded to despise her presence most of all. She was a reminder of what was and what could have been. Yet, she had also seen my lingering monster and that deeper darkness that poured out of my very being. She had seen the terror I could be, and would be, and yet she still remained here now. This I found the most puzzling and troublesome thought of them all.

I headed east, where I knew in a few hours time she would begin prepping for her night's stay outside the manor. After stalking a doe I managed to kill it with blade, preferring the struggle to the swiftness of my powers' sake. But I waited until dusk began before making my way back to the manor, and with the luck I had so hoped, she had left. While I could never say it to her directly, I was surprised to walk into the foyer to see it for the most part preserved. There I was standing with doe dripping blood on the freshly swept black and white marble simply taking in the room. It held no banners or curtains, as I had shredded them all. And most if not all of the furniture had been destroyed save for a few tables that were cleaned. Yet the room looked far better than it had. My eyes befell the beam she could undoubtedly not lift to its station, and I knew before long that without the support the manor's foyer would crumble. Especially since I wasn't expending magic to it much these days. The journey had me ragged though, east of the manor my lands had grassy knolls and smaller wooded areas. Had I continued I would have found my way to the deserted village and on from there the coastal ports that I had left to rot as well. All of this to mind simply by staring at the simple request she had made of me.

The longer I stared at the beam, the more I felt my breath pace rapidly, so I rushed and prepared the deer and while it cooked came back to set the structure. I stared long and hard at the blood stains next and had for a brief moment considered leaving them. But I also did not need attention to if I was injured, any conversation at all with her was an annoyance as it were, so I brushed a tinge of magic to clean it up and it was no more. Though I couldn't quite ignore that Elleste had stayed. I hastily cleaned myself after dinner, finding my usual chair and staring out into the moonlit gardens, their glory long since faded. I had hoped to ease into sleep, but it was to be less than compensating. I found my fingers tapping on the chair itself ticking with time. I groaned and slipped out of the comforts of my rage-touched room after hours passing of no rest to come. Stepping down the stairs in the sunset, I had almost forgotten how the light would reach through the branches and seemingly touch every flower that the gardens held. At least, the gardens that used to be a sight to behold here, as I realized it the land here was dry and barren. What was beautiful vine-trailed roses along the walls were now dried tangles of death and decay. I kept pressing on, heading to where her scent led me in the distance. Passing through the courtyards and out into the actual wilds of my lands. She led me further into a small gathering of trees, which I knew was one of the outer garden views. We had several around the land, simple places with benches and a few gardens, visitors would come for miles to have a moment with their loved ones in such a place. Yet, I recalled, I never had taken Feyre to one. No, she deserved the greater, or so I had been believed to think, I took her to the starlit pool and dared let her steal at my heart. I was easing my way to a guarded area to watch the clearing in which she lay by now. I glamoured into a tree, sitting atop its branches and looking down on her and the area itself. I then began by letting my senses take over to any unwanted presences that may linger onto my lands. I did my best to not look at her curled form on the bench, after all I wasn't required to be an accommodating host to her. Despite at some deeper level it did confuse my normal rage. The flowers here had also withered, the bench on which she lay looked to be thousands of years old by the grime that came with the lessening of my powers.

Remarkably, this area was still close and far enough from the manor that trouble didn't seem to find its way here. In the same sense this proved to be a deterrent to my goals as it were. Instead I was left to remember days long since over. In particular to this wood was Lucien coming to mind. That fiery temperament that I had come to enjoy reached out through the courses of these branches it seemed. While he never had the will to go against my own, at least not as I found in direct speaking with me in those days, he was still avid to express himself regardless. He had a manageable way of tact, that I could hardly find in many others. I supposed that had to do with his upbringing. Lucien's life, I recollected, was not too strange from my own. Both of our fathers rather enjoyed making our lives miserable. We both had siblings that would rather see us in death. While my own truly despised me more toward the end of their lives, Lucien's were always in competition for their father's enjoyment.

Personally I never had found the Vanserras as anything special. Their hot-headedness could mirror my own in cases, but their own ambitions would rip apart their own claims if they were truly keen to be unwise. As it were, all of Lucien's family ordeals were really the tie between us, however fragile that had proven to be of late, and there were moments like now that I did regret losing his friendship. Here I was staring after a female fae as she slept, when I could have been drinking or plotting with Lucien the next move for our own plans. Those same plans we had before the Spring Court became a mocking ground, before we were forced to wear masks for fifty years, and before Feyre seduced me to her whims. All of these things interrupted my thoughts so rushed, I felt the rage begin to find its top within my being. I felt that initial burst of magic erupt from my hands as the talons began their exposure. I inhaled deeply, finding my sights to Elleste and letting those indigo strands enrapture a feeling of peace to my soul.

Past the garden of which I watched now, and just over the rolling ridge to the west, was where I had first been introduced to Lucien Vanserra. The family had been paying a visit, close to Calanmai of course, and our fathers had wanted to discuss a possible union of celebrations. As Autumn and Spring were both the courts that led to both Winter and Summer's celebration, a bond of such powers would be influential for both courts. The initial goal of course was to strengthen allegiances, perhaps in time they would find a means to lessen the power of the Solar Courts. This was at least the missive my father had, and one that in some level Lucien and I would embark on in years after this. Yet it was hardly to be the case for our first meeting, while he was less cared for by his brethren, he hardly held his lip when my horse had me bounding after prey right in front of their caravan. Beron had practically cursed me with every breath, yet it was Lucien's words that were ever in my mind. "If you can't catch in that close of range, what sort of hunter are you?"

The thought made me smile, I felt the twinge of my lips in the stranger of sensations to my mood of late. Beron had come with his sons, leaving his lady behind, and a handful of his faithful servants, craftsmen, and higher society friends were along in tow. The whole lot had been completely stunted as my horse rode across their path. Yet it was Lucien's yell that had had me swirl the reigns to my steed and shift back into the way of their progression. The Vanserras in all their high fae glory, stunned and annoyed, all looked with a sense of arrogance. Like myself, I could sense immediately who Lucien's elder brothers were, and each had a face more proud than the last. I had taken the opportunity, in my lost prey's escape, to give a light bow. Giving welcome was not meant to be done along the road, yet I had never been one to keep my father's ordinances. "I hope this travel has not been too troublesome until now, lords and ladies, I was merely on a hunt this fine day."

Lucien spiced himself up in his saddle at this, that cocky grin he was so fond turning toward the direction of the deer now long gone and returning to my own stare. "A hunt? I believe you catch something in a hunt, you merely seem to enjoy the chase and letting the followed get good lead on you."

Beron had given a cough of disapproval at Lucien's interruption, his gaze so fiery as the powers the Vanserras held, yet I was quick to interject as well. "Perhaps I enjoy letting my prey feel it is in security before I take that hope and crush it as it were."

"Hard to crush something that is long gone from your sights. It could be across our borders by now with your delay." Lucien had shifted the grasp of his horse, letting its weight move about beneath him with ease.

"A delay by which you are certainly not aiding, regardless, as you say I should be getting on if I'm to 'hunt' according to you."

"Surely you know that we are en route to meet with the Highlord, should you not be removing yourself from our way?" Beron interjected now, the scowl given to me was one that had reminded me of my own father.

"But of course you are, I would hate to delay you from your own hunt, in the very least." I remember my venom was so caked it got a laugh from Lucien then, "Consider me now, your escort and guide to the manor of the Spring Court. My father will be most pleased you've arrived sooner than expected." This got another laugh from the ginger haired fae before he was slammed in the shoulder by one of his elder brothers.

"Ah, a son of the Highlord, my apologies for such bluntness. We will be happy to have your escort," Beron paused and I had given my name with usual pleasantries.

Yet it had been Lucien then who had caught the drip of venom and stares of disdain that I held toward his own kin. After miles of riding inward from the border, no doubt they were surprised that a highlord's son would rather be hunting than preparing for their arrival. Something in this must have drawn Lucien to ride up next to me after his brothers chose to ride along the carted monstrosity covered in orange leaves and twisted dark branches. Lucien had steadied himself, as my own ability to tell the history of these lands failed to interest me even for their sake.

"They've gone to speak of how uncouth you are, daring to hunt on such a prominent day in our family's legacies." He had started with a curious and skeptical gaze to meet my own.

"Personally, I shouldn't have to be present for something of which my father would rather do. I'd rather ride and hunt, train, and prune flowers than deal with the politics that today will offer."

He had merely chuckled, taking it upon himself now to nod and let loose a sigh, "It could be beneficial to us both to be there as well. If anything to see how long it takes my father and yours to reach a boiling point over who would get to have the biggest table for the celebration. Either way, afterward, I would imagine we wouldn't be noticed to slip off and hunt. Perhaps I'll show you how its properly done?"

I had let a guffaw out then that had Beron sticking his head out of the carriage's window before returning to his company. "And who would I have the honor of showing me how to properly hunt especially in my own lands?"

"The name is Lucien, youngest and last in line for practically everything. And you? Father may not care to know the sons of the High Lord is to meet, but I find it proper to not just assume.."

"I am also last in line as well..." I had led the caravan by now along the borders of the manor's courtyards now. "I would like to escape this, I'll have the horses drawn and weapons prepared. And find you some less proper attire for a chase as it were."

That day had been amusing in so many matters. Our fathers had never come to an agreement, after weeks of the Vanserra's stay, and all the while Lucien and I went hunting every day. Our tally was the most entertaining factor, I had ten catches to his five, given that we did not hunt every day per different demands. But it had been just over the ridge I sat now.

There I stayed lingering until I saw the first reaches of light on the horizon, and with a quiet yawn I slipped down from the tree and headed back to the manor. I curled into my torn apart bed and fell fast asleep. I was only slightly awakened by her returned steps not long after my own return, but it did not move me to leave my room.


	6. Chapter 6-A Game of Will

Every rock crevice down to the snow that capped their edged linings were in my sights. High above the lands below I felt as though I were a queen in my own designed dominion. It was the closest I had been to the stars that I longed to return to, that my body practically craved with every ounce of my being. I missed the feel of the wind most of all, high above in these mountains that I had once considered a home away from home. Like clockwork I strode toward that invisible railing, one that held one back from simply striding off the side into doom. Leaning over, I could see what felt miles of uncharted rigid stone coursing upward into the sky in its peak where I stood. Trees clung by twisted root, snow edged every gray surface with its purity, and there I was just a speck amongst its magnificence. Yet, all chains of society did not hold to me there. I held no means of having to be civil, and out of the caverns of my mind I felt Tamlin, I felt how the anger and the sorrow blended perfectly at that peak's tip. How easy it would have been to leave him, how easy it would have been to simply let the Spring Court fall into ruin. This mountain was my sacred land. I bore to it no promises nor did it expect my grace in return. This mountain accepted me, dangerously, at its top with the offer of freedom.

It was as if the wind called, whispered even, and I felt the urge to walk backward. Thus I did, like I had done I knew many times before, but this time it held itself in different momentum. This time I did not feel the confidence; no it was like it was the very first time I strode to the top of that mountain. It felt that initial knot that my stomach tied within itself at the sight of the death that would await me if one fell move were to occur. It was in this that embedded itself in me even stepping as I felt my body turn of its own accord back to where the abyss lay for me with open arms. Me feet would move, my heart pleading with mind to stop them even, and before I knew it all the freedom I felt from this peak was drowning me in fear. I instead was under miles of water despite being taller than the world itself! As my feet strode forward in a sprint, my body ached with back arcing and knees lurching forward to spring my feet to follow in a swing outward the mountain. That's when the sight was truly beauty to behold, spinning in the air just enough to level my face forward and view the ground's speeding up to my frail body. White streams that bled into green and smaller creases of blue. This was the end. I heard the voice as I had heard it so many times before, loose and unapologetic, practically frowning through every spoken word. "See the destination. Abide in the destination." Ageless echoing through the mind as I plummeted further and further down the side of the mountain.

It was the reminder, the initial push past that fear, and I saw the ground so clearly focused that despite the blur around my fall I could see just where my feet should land. I stretched my arm to the ground, preparing my feet to rise and bend to the collision that was my willing not the surface's! I had felt this before, the sensation of winnowing in air, twisting the air to my own might to find it to my liking. Simulated flying, as it were, but useful nevertheless. As I expected to feel my feet hit Prythian's soil, all I saw was Tamlin. Instead of clear vision ahead I saw the High Lord hung in his chair, bled out, talon at his neck and long claw marks along his jugular. I retracted my hand to see the rest stain along my pale fingertips, my nails soaked but seemingly not sharp enough for the gashes Tamlin's neck bore. I felt my breath stiffen, the immediate hush of my form forced into rushed breath to follow, my body running toward him instead of the ground itself. I was sure to die.

I felt the warmth hit my skin, as if it were my blood breaking from my fleshly binding. And where I saw only darkness as Tamlin's broken body evaporated I felt the lingering of light. Creased, half shown, blaring even, and then I opened my eyes. The sun overhead the Spring Court still half gloomy like its High Lord. For a moment my chest felt strained, the muscle tensened so much that I had clutched my chest in the moment. My arm was outstretched above my form and slowly I found myself lowering it. Surely it had all been a dream, I thought. Worst, I worried if Tamlin were alright.

The next days were repeatedly the same, with the same dream or nightmare to follow. I would wake on the stone bench and absorb its intricate designs that twirled around my seated position before staring up at the leaves of foreign trees over-head until my body willed into action, doing my best to not think on the visions of my mind. I would then start my travel to the manor, to which the work bid me the same process over and over. This was the simplest order in which I could do, the first step having to twist into destruction before it could hope to be organized. Then after it was placed in what would be deemed a neater calamity, I would then empty the contents of the manor by what could not be spared. When that process was complete I would clean the inches that were now free of debris. It meant burning the remnants of Tamlin's life that he had chosen to leave in pieces. He never stopped me despite this and in honesty I had to hide my relief seeing him alive after the nightmares of late, in the same as he never offered to help I still felt bitterness rise within me. Though I did notice he had replaced the beam in the foyer, a surprise indeed, something of course I'm sure he knew would need to be done for the structure's sake. Regardless, it would not be mistaken for the sign that it was to my hope. Little as it was, I would take anything to help my will stay to its purpose.

Tamlin had found resolve in his reclusiveness, he spoke less, leaving often as I was cleaning to do the Cauldron were to guess. So the days turned into a week, and before long it felt as a mindless endeavor to me. In days of my own inner anger, I seemed to clean with more speed, lifted in false hope and rage to empty this manor of its mess. Other days I felt the weight of it on my physique as if the many days I had lived in wilds mattered to nothing. I ate once a day, which I knew was not wise, but there was some part of me that felt foreign here. Tamlin did nothing to ease this when he did speak to me, often leaving me with unwelcome, yet I knew if I gave up now...it would simply be like giving him reason to not try.

There were forces outside of the Spring Court that felt he was weak. In the ages since the High Lords were set as rulers of Prythian, the Spring Court held its own and had its own. I could not allow this to be disrupted but it was a fact coming. I knew the Autumn Court, ever ruthless, would waste at no time to devour some of the Spring Court's old lands and mold them into an eternal Autumn. While the Summer Court itself was less inclined, the thought of the Autumn Court growing to the size of the Night Court was a threat to truly any other court, and many of the other courts knew this as well. While I had not heard how many courts plotted, it was still a possibility that all of them would do so. I had to get Tamlin to see this, the other High Lords felt they could contain such. Yet, there was a reason, some reason embedded in the very twining of my bones that believed a rule of seven was nothing to scoff at, even more so the difference in solar and seasonal courts. It was imbalance to let the Spring Court be absorbed and disappear, and this much was already seen in Tamlin's neglect of his homelands. Where he no longer cared, the power from him waned, and in so doing its edge effected the other powers at be. This had to be why they were so quick to swarm to consume his lands, if not for the mere addition of power to themselves.

This was the thought that kept finding my mind as I took room by room in the West Wing of the manor. Before I knew it, I had been there almost two weeks. I wasn't sure that my own will could hold out on Tamlin's own skulking behind me. As the second week's end carressed my aching muscles, I found him lingering more and more. He stayed quiet for the most part, save for when he saw something he wanted me to try to preserve. That much I was willing to cooperate with, until he would begin a typical degradation speech. In which I would promptly remind him of how incredibly lucky he was I'd even managed to get this far so fast. That was generally enough to quiet him to storm to a hunt. Some rooms he spoke more, asking of simple things as what my favorite meal was to things less simple like why I still stayed.

"In our lifetimes, we have seen much and felt much, and had our fair share of disappointments, yes?" Tamlin began with a casual corrosion brewing to his tone, "What would you say was your most disappointing affair?" I remember lifting my head at this mention, seeing the tips of the ebon strands of my hair resting on my chest through the bottom of my eyes. He could sense that it was some level unnerving to my normal facade of calm. In that, I felt his edge of words dig deeper to my skin, penetrating the outer layer of flesh to flay to the muscle, hoping to find that deepened nestle of bone. "Perhaps some lover in Autumn Court? Are the more fire-tempered ones to your tastes? Auburn as their hair to match their...flames?"

I felt the venom seeping from him as he leaned at a nearby window. He'd managed to force those green hues to me when I had willingly bit down to keep my tongue stilled from rage. I leaned on the wall nearest to me, tossing another family heirloom of ceramic beauty half destroyed by the beast himself. As it faced its own finality, the crash reverberated through us with silence ended in stare. Despite this the way the light shimmered along the gold of his mane was fascinating, like light particles dancing off Tamlin's very skull, something I couldn't ignore in our match of wills. Yet the crystalline hues he faced me with forced all level of appreciation to his beauty aside. "Are we feeling sentimental Tamlin? Why the interest in my 'disappointing love affairs?'" I felt the wrists and hands instinctually nestle between my elbow's creases, rising to rest along my chest in their resting.

He tilted his head, his squinted view enough to tell me that I had edged along our normal prickly speech. "Perhaps, I wonder why someone as you finds themself to be alone? Though I suppose I should ask instead why you feel any reasonable male could ever consider to be by your side? What with your venom...lies...betrayal.." He stood up this time, striding over to me and for once I felt the desire to turn my back. In the end, it was always an argument, always hated words because he could never comprehend that someone was desiring to help him. Tamlin saw only his grief and torment, and in the process only wanted to pull everyone into it with him. Faulting him for such was incredibly superficial, as the linings of his shadow found my turned back while I attempted to focus to the task at hand. "No disagreement? Tell me, Elleste..." His word stung on my name, "Perhaps it is you have had many lovers instead...dousing them with fantasies of something they all want, perhaps you have never known love...in its capacity."

"And the High Lord of Spring has? I find that hard to believe, it is none of your concern if I have loved or not loved in my lifetime. Your concern should be whether you are going to stand and ask insufferable questions or actually aid so that we can get your manor restored to what it should be. So that then perhaps your lands may revitalize and your people return to you."

I felt that tensened breath escape him at first, that heat billowing from him almost in swirls to be seen as dancing streams. I had answered everything honestly, it was apparent he had lost all faith and trust in those around him. He would generally leave if he had deemed to have spoken too much, and by then I was usually grateful for the silence. The brooding presence he often had with him was enough to distract me from being productive. I felt as if I had to cater to it, to mend it in some unknown way, and when I spoke it was always the wrong truth for him to hear. Today was not to be an easier day it would seem.

"What -do- you plan to do once you've cleaned this manor?" He had continued. His feet finding him to stand directly behind me when I remained silent.

Without any further hesitation to show my arced brow and heavy sigh I turned to face him, "I suppose I will move on to my other tasks then, Tamlin. Though, I will say I won't be here to clean up for more messes and destruction from your tantrums." My eyes leveled into his gaze, and even my own will found itself affected by his hansom features that had led years to still be so roughened.

The level of his attraction for me was something that I had not been able to control fully, my own anger nor he though, and it had edged rapidly after my defiance shortly to follow. He had leaned to stare me down, the muscled flex of his chest so close I felt the rise and fall of his breath. "My tantrums are a result of some deceiver coming in and turning everything against me. Would you say you would not feel anger if someone did what.." he had started.

I had already turned again by this point, carefully wiping the mantle over top another fireplace in one of the many rooms this wing held. Tamlin choked, and I had thought nothing of it at first, even as I gazed and saw his eyes above me at some invisible portrait above my head. As his eyes lowered upon me once more he finally voiced again. A noticable calmness to his tone, "How many times must I say I've lost everything. I have nothing and no one, and I want nothing and want no one. I just want to be left alone so let me rot here, Elleste."

I let his words linger on the brink of too long before I heard his feet shuffle to leave me yet again. I edged my chin over my shoulder so my own words would carry, "I know that's a lie, Tamlin. You do not want to be left alone, and you do want something. You guard what that is well." There was something driven between the words as they left my parted lips. In the end, there was something Tamlin wanted, enough to sulk and prime. Perhaps it was always to be Feyre. Regardless of this, I wanted my voice to reverberate through his hall, to bound back and forth as if light dancing to shade trees. There was a better sound with the physicality of it. Despite my own residing frustration, that was the entirety of Tamlin's meaning, not so much to pry on my personal life as to release the frustrations he had with his own.

He had left me after that to my own thoughts as I cleaned up the rest of the room. Some of the smaller rooms were actually less effected from his rampages. This I appreciated more as each room seemed to be a daunting reminder that his grounds were massive, but not unlike other places I had seen before. I could expect no less from a High Lord's abode after all.


End file.
